Porfirio Mendoza, a physical education teacher at Wade Carpenter Middle School, was supposed to be honored for his outstanding service at a previous Nogales Unified School District governing board meeting – but the reason the award was postponed speaks to why Mendoza was selected in the first place.

Supt. Fernando Parra explained that Mendoza was not able to attend the previous governing board meeting because one of his former students asked him to accompany him to an awards event at Nogales High School when his parents themselves could not.

“The fact that a former student, now in high school, who he had in middle school thought so highly of him to ask him to be there with him for the event speaks to Porfirio’s character, to the way his students feel about him even years later,” Parra said.

NUSD honors teachers and other educators at a governing board meeting each month, and Mendoza was selected based on his loyalty, dedication, and his ability to serve as a role model for so many students, Parra added.

A product of NUSD schools, Mendoza said he was not always “a good student” and his behavior was not always what it should have been. But, he said, he took those experiences and now works with his students to make sure they do not make the same mistakes. Mendoza credited his students, and thanked them repeatedly, for making him into the teacher he is today.

The award ceremony was especially moving in that Mendoza’s mother, Barbara Mendoza, is president of the governing board and along with the other members, presented him with his award.